Music Video Analysis: Lighting

Lighting was one factor that was very hard to control in our video, but we tried our best to make sure that the best lighting was used for tone and mood we wanted to create at any particular time.

Most of our video was filmed outside in the surrounding area at different locations, for example;

• Central Park, Dagenham
• Heath Park, Dagenham
• Trefgarne Road, Dagenham
• Civic Centre, Dagenham

This made for some miserable weather conditions, and sometimes delayed filming, but for pretty constant lighting which went in our favour.

The scene in which we were particularly

happy with was one of the opening scenes that introduces the detective. It is on the steps of our local town hall and was on a bright day. The light is very clear, meaning that for the short time the detective is on screen at this point, it is very easy to see all of the attributes shown. The quick but clear introduction meant that less time was needed to initially present the detective, and more time could be spent on his journey to band practice. As well as this, the quick introduction matches the pace of the song; quick, playful and energetic. This helps the audience get an idea of what the rest of the video is going to be like and is used to great effect.

We weren't so fortunate with other scenes. For some scenes we needed to use simple lighting, such as regular indoor hall lighting. But at other times we needed to use more technical lighting.

Inside scenes that required specific lighting include;

• Band scenes
• Green Lip Sync
• Library Scene
• Female Dress Scene
• Cinema Scene

For the Band Scenes we used all available lighting in the hall that was in front of the the boys on stage. This meant that the faces, guitars and microphones were all perfectly visible, and that the white and pink of the boys t shirts could be seen in detail. If the lights behind and on top of the boys were on, the camera could not easily distinguish between the white and pink on the t-shirt and gave a blurred effect that in our opin

ion did not look as professional. In addition to this, this made the backdrop of the band scenes look a lot darker, almost as if the boys were performing in front of a black screen. This meant that the audience would focus more on the band and on the song, and in the end it is the song that we are trying to promote.

The Green Lip Sync section of the video needed bright lighting a the green tint decreases the brightness of the shot in the editing period and we were aware of this when filming. We used all the lights available to us and shone them directly on matt's face from in front of him so as shadows were decreased as much as possible for a clean shot. This worked well and the colour links perfectly with the song and the lyrics. Magical :)

The Library Scene was indoor and required thought with the lighting. There were lights all over the place and we decided to keep them all on so as to create as few shadows as possible between the bookshelves. This also means that the detective can be seen the whole time, as in parts long shots are used and it would be hard to see him without good lighting. The bright, positive lighting also contributes to the happy and fun nature of the video.

The Female Dress scene needed some attention with regards to lighting, but came out VERY well. We had to make sure that both the 'woman' and the detective were distinguishable yet independent. We didn't want the brown of the detectives coat clashing with the red of the 'woman's' dress and making for a bad shot. One aspect i really like about this is our choice of light positioning. We used a spotlight to light the area between the curtains to make it look like a changing room. We positioned it slightly to one side so as the detectives shadow precedes him. This means that you know where the detective is going to be before he is there, and perhaps gives the impression he is destined to be there, it is inevitable. This soon becomes true as in the next scene he ends up where the band are practising, fate?

The Cinema Scene was definitely the hardest to film with regards to lighting. It was hard. I mean HARD. We knew from the second we decided to include a cinema scene that we would most likely be working with silhouettes due to the backlighting from the screen. This was the case for filming from behind the cinema audience (Matt, Matt, Matt, Matt and Matt) but when filming from the front it was hard to get a good capture. We used two spotlights to light Matt's face but this made the capture grainy, so we resorted to one spotlight with a wider beam and increased the brightness of the screen and this helped to increase the clarity of the capture. I think that, in the en

d, we got a very good capture and made a very good replication of the cinema atmosphere, purely by using lighting. The more real it seems, the greater effect the video has. We did this to the best of our abilities and think it came out looking professional and good quality.

Overall we coped very well with the lighting and was lucky that the weather in our area stayed reasonably constant throughout the filming process. Lighting helped to set the fun, energetic and humorous mood of the video and translates into the song, which strikes back with a fast chorus and emotion-filled verses. With regards to lighting, our video matches the song perfectly.